


Tea with Foxes

by UsagiSquared



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Foxes, Gen, kitsune kaito, which is to say 'everything is mostly the same but Surprise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-03-30
Packaged: 2019-04-15 00:15:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14147727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UsagiSquared/pseuds/UsagiSquared
Summary: He had been fairly certain when they first met that Faker only had one son, a  young boy who was far from old enough to duel in this way.The young teenager across from him neither confirmed nor denied things when he asked, and so things persisted as intended.(Or at least, until they're finally working together once again)





	Tea with Foxes

_‘I wasn’t aware that Dr. Faker had another son.’_

_'In all fairness, I can’t really call myself 'social’-you wouldn't have met me.’_

 

* * *

 

 

He was hallucinating.

That was the only explanation he had for it back then. It would only be for an instant, but in the reflection of any glass or mirrors near Kaito’s vicinity, the young man’s image would be replaced with that of a golden furred fox, the clothes entirely unaltered save for what was needed to fit the form. Two tails would sway behind the figure, and depending on where they stood or sat, there would even be a drop in height. Yet there was no reason for such a sight to appear in his mind he told himself, and Kaito himself would ask (when he caught him staring), ’ _Are you alright?_ ’

He was fine, he would reply, before leaving. He was perfectly fine, and he tried not to think about the image of a rain-soaked fox haunting him from the reflections of scattered puddles on the night where he'd found the truth.

It happened again at the party preceding the World Duel Carnival. Only for an instant, just a brief, and immediate instant and it was there–the shape of the fox in the reflection of the glass, the image faded and faint in the polished tile at their feet. It was such that he'd almost paused in his words to the former student, the sight of paws around his reflection's neck so bizarre, so comical, it was almost laughable what he was seeing. There were more important matters than such visions at that time however, so he held his glare and gave nothing away to his momentary slip of sight. They traded their words, and they went their separate ways…

…Until the duel in the 'Carnival’ itself.

Kaito Tenjou was not the Doctor’s biological son.

It was a curious way to interrupt his story–as he announced the relation then and there for all to hear, the blond had turned his head downward in silence. A split second later, and his gaze cut across the field, his voice following with it–’ _No, I am not._ ’

’ _But Haruto–_ ’

’ _I see him as my brother, but I am not related to him in blood._ ’

’ _And you said nothing!?_ ’

There seemed to be a flash of some emotion across the duelist’s face, disappointment perhaps, or even rage–

’ _I did not._ ’

He could remember that day as clearly as their duel, as clearly as the reflection spotted in the rain and in the mirrors. He had asked about the relation to Faker, questioned him with the fact that he had only ever heard of one such child. Kaito had not moved to deny it-but then, he realized, he had not moved to confirm either. Their duel continued with his mind clouded in confusion, fragmented sights of golden fur still visible in the polished arena floor as he scattered into a portal.

When next they met…it was awkward.

There were emotions that could not be described. There were conversations and conflicts left unfinished. Yet through all this there were also matters that they needed to work toward  _together_ , and for that reason, they pushed beyond. Ignoring perhaps, the issues of the past initially.

Being forced in the end, to address them regardless.

“Tea?”

And to top it all off, the hallucinations would not desist.

It was cold here, at the base they had chosen for construction. Not so cold that they could not stand to be outside for a few moments at a time, but it was cold enough. And the hallucinations persisted as he looked to the window overlooking their work, and as the image of the fox appeared over the shadow of the glass.

He ignored it, turning away so that he could banish the question of _why_ he seemed to be so intent on associating foxes with his former student in his unconscious mind so that he could focus on the data for the next stage of their portal. “Yes,” he began, turning with a rather swift motion to take the thermos from him. “Thank you, Kai-  _GNnN-_!” The words of 'thanks’ were cut alarmingly short as his arm swung against Kaito’s own, forcing the thermos and mug back against the blond, and spilling hot water all across his face and front. In the reflection, the 'fox’ was soaked, fur slicked against its chest. And in reality…

“ ** _kEERN_** -!” A panicked bark struck the air, leaving Chris to stare.

…There was a soaked fox wearing Kaito’s clothes, fur slicked down by hot water. Given the situation and what was presently visible to both there were very few intelligent things that could come to mind, let alone out of his mouth.

The closest thing, in the end, was–

“Ah.” This explained a lot.

The fox for his part, seemed just as alarmed- eventually grabbing at his (now quite over-sized) clothes with what looked to be a grimace. He did not bolt. He did not run. He merely hauled up the fallen trousers and after stepping out of them the boots, gathering them in canine arms with his head ducked in seeming shame. “…I’ll be back in a moment.” The decision was probably for the best, Chris decided as the fox left, blearily taking a seat nearby.

To be honest, he wasn’t even sure that would be enough time to collect himself even with that.

~~at the very least, however, this did explain why he was not blood related to those he continued to associate with.~~

It was a different sort of 'awkward’, what followed. Whereas before there had been conversations and conflicts to consider, here, the situation was something else entirely. What to begin with, for example.

“…Have…you always been a  _fox_?”

They were having tea over this. Kaito was sitting across from him in the same form he’d 'worn’ for nearly all the time that Chris had known the blond, and sipping tea from a mug. As if anything that had happened fifteen minutes prior hadn’t happened at all- and as if the reflection in the window behind him wasn't still showing a very fluffy, and very obvious pair of tails. … _TEA_ , he thought almost blankly.

WITH A _FOX_.

“…Speaking honestly, yes.”

“ _Honestly_?”

Kaito looked over his tea, his eyes briefly appearing to narrow into slits akin to those of the foxes he had always seen in the mirror. “Foxes aren’t considered trustworthy, for the most part.”

He could have laughed, if he wasn't so lost. “I can’t imagine why.”

“It’s hardly common.” The look Kaito received was likely the most incredulous stare Chris had made in his entire life–an impressive feat, given his family. “Even when I was younger, and stories were more well known, that was the case.”

Chris rubbed his head, still ignoring the tea for the most part. “…Dare I ask how old you actually are?”

Sip. Pause. “Two hundred, seventy three. Give or take.” Aha.

Of course.

There was a longer pause at that. An awkward pause, filled by nothing but white noise from the multiple machines running at the sides. Eventually Kaito chose to fill it, his expression soft and at least somewhat sympathetic to his mentor's confusion. “There’s a reason we aren’t common, Chris.”

He frowned. “Did you think I was going to  _kill_  you then?” Chris asked after a moment, quite easily guessing at what Kaito meant. Perhaps after he had left them, that made sense-but before?

“Initially.” The answer was 'yes'. It was a curt response, one that kept Kaito from completely looking in Chris’ direction, and one mirrored by a fox folding their ears back in upset within the reflection. “That’s what happens for most foxes at the end of these sorts of stories.” In the silent pause that followed, Kaito continued, the expression of potentially nauseated alarm on Chris’ face telling him that the scientist would not be speaking for some time. “I told you back then, didn’t I? That I wasn’t social.”

“In the middle of Heartland.”

“…It was where Haruto was, after all.” And yet again there was a silence, a void in the conversation which only Kaito seemed willing to fill in any fashion. “I was careless,” the fox admitted, turning his gaze to the ceiling, steam rising from his mug. “At that time, humans were still a curiosity to me–a species of fools that forgot about spirits and gods,” he went on, sounding just as old as he claimed to be for those moments. “So my thoughts were only on protecting Haruto…”

Chris watched in continued silence, his friend still looking up to the ceiling.

“It cost me my freedom.”

A nod. “Heartland,” he assumed aloud, Kaito as well nodding in turn. There was a pause, and Chris crossed his arms. “If it was Faker I would have imagined it dealt with by this point.”

“You’d be right,” the blond sighed, at last bringing his gaze back as he took another sip of tea. “If he wasn’t in the other worlds right now, I would have gone after Heartland’s head by now.”

Chris chose to ignore the somewhat uncomfortable tone that Kaito’s chuckling took, a new sort of unfamiliarity painting across the young man he had come to know and understand. He chose instead to give a light cough as a sign to perhaps change the subject. It was a motion that did not go ignored yet despite this, Kaito said nothing further. He simply ran his finger along the edge of his mug, staring at the steam.

It was Chris’ turn to fill the gap, this time. “…A curiosity, hm?”

The blond smirked, mug placed back on the table as he was drawn back into things. “If not for you, it would have been a 'virus’ instead, save Haruto. I wouldn't have been able to consider anyone else, from there...even if you did leave,” As Chris’ eyebrows raised in what could be protest and surprise both, Kaito again looked away, arms crossing to match his friend’s. “The only reason Faker still lives is because Haruto needs him,” he explained, leaving part of the truth unsaid. “With what he and Heartland did using my  _soul_ ,” the fox hissed, “I didn’t have room to see them as anything but brutal.”

Kaito’s tone was almost frightening, or so Chris found himself thinking. It was a tone that reminded him of his father’s in a sense, when Tron had spoken of vengeance. It was darker than the one Kaito had taken during their meetings at the tournament, and darker still than even the meetings surrounding what preceded that time. Darker than when his 'brother’ was in his grasp, power, soul, and energy sapped of all strength..

No, not 'almost’, Chris decided.

It truly was terrifying, and he wasn't sure it took any supernatural force beyond their own to bring Kaito to that point. “Did you know?" he abruptly asked, eyes looking to the tea again. "Spirits don’t look at the stars and think about travelling to them.”

The change in topic was so jarring that Chris nearly spilt the mug of tea that had been set out for him, the hot water somehow still warm enough to smell pleasant despite having sat there since the start of the conversation. In the face of Chris’ alarm Kaito continued, his eyes still not quite meeting Chris’ own.

“For ages, even spirits as young as myself thought of you as foolish for that. The skies beyond the clouds were the 'realms of gods and dead’–what humans worked to create was nothing but destructive, and loud; failed 'karakuri’ that could do little more than put on a small show. We laughed at humans,” Kaito went on, “When in reality, any of us who existed still were either too paranoid to do more than hide, or too antiquated to open our eyes.”

Yet what was the point to those words, Chris wondered for a moment, staring at Kaito suspiciously and finding himself drawn to the reflection once again. To the almost peaceful sway of tails, and to the way the fox's ears continued to press backward. What–

“If it couldn’t be explained, it was a magic beyond our grasp. In reality however, if it couldn’t be explained, what we were probably looking at…just needed a deeper look.” Chris’ stare persisted, and the blond across from him gave an almost barking laugh, gaze locking with Chris’ once again. “As it seems, human curiosity is more than just 'curiosity’…they’re the only ones with the sense to really test where it gets them, so really, who among us is the 'curious’ one then?”

“How modest,” he half snorted.

“I didn’t say I wasn’t still the more powerful one among us.” Chris choked a little at the more blatant show of pride as Kaito resumed drinking his tea, the blond’s eyes narrowed into the strange fox-like stare once again. “But if not for you, humans would still be a 'virus’ to me–so it’s better this way in the end.”

Chris sighed, a somewhat bitter smile on his face. He wondered once again how much of the Kaito he knew was real, and how much was an act put forth by what sat before him. “Haha…I’m not entirely sure I deserve that title…”

“You taught me to duel, didn’t you?” As Chris frowned, Kaito continued on once more. “No matter how long that has been around, that’s something that most spirits have never toyed with. Now, we really are playing with the forces of 'gods’…whether you knew it or not at the time, you taught me that when I asked,” he reasoned seriously. “You gave me a tool I could use to defend Haruto, and myself. To a fox…that warrants a good deal of respect.”

It was a fair amount of confession to take all at once–in hindsight Chris thought, most of it likely couldn’t have come out of his mouth for the very reason they were having tea at the moment.

As it was, he sighed. “…Just the dueling then,” he murmured, waving a hand to gesture at the devices. “None of this…” Another sigh, wistful and drawn. “…I suppose none of this actually matters beyond that now, does it.”

“I don’t know about that.” As Chris looked up from where he had started rubbing his head he could not help but think on how much more relaxed Kaito’s smile seemed, compared to the few he’d seen in the time he knew him. “I think it would be interesting, to see what happens when you take a spirit into space.”

...Space? So then he still wanted to try, he thought. The portal, the ship, everything... “Ah… Aha…” A stilted laugh escaped him as incredulity came over him once again, and at last he took the mug of tea across from him to try taking a sip again. “I’m asking more questions later,” he finally decided, banishing the mental image of foxes in space suits. “Technical questions. You’re going to help me make a report for this, Kaito.”

Kaito merely snorted, and refilled his own mug. “I look forward to it.”

The wind howled somewhat outside, and in the glass of the window behind him, two tails idly swished back and forth as his ears perked.

“Just drink your tea already–I’ve been keeping it warm for the past twenty minutes.”


End file.
